DESCRIPTION:
Music and pictures from the celebration of life service on March 7th, 2017 for John Henry Hankinson, Jr. Hundreds gathered in the Fort King Presbyterian Church in Ocala, FL for the service.

John died on March 3rd. The gathering included not only friends and family but environmental leaders from across the state and Southeast region of the United States.

John's most recent position was the Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force where he worked with 11 federal agencies and five states to develop strategy for restoration of the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

He has also held positions as the Regional Administrator of the EPA's office in Atlanta overseeing federal wetland regulation and state implementation of delegated Clean Water Act programs in eight southern states.

In earlier positions he has worked as the Director of Planning and Acquisition at the St. John's River Water Management District in Florida.

His passion was working toward the restoration of the Ocklawaha River. He loved playing music and was an avid blues harmonica player with several bands including the band known as Johnny Matanzas and the Hombres as well as the band called, The Non Essentials.

RIP John